eBird maps track stilt sandpipers in August and January

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In On the Move, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of eBird distribution maps that you can use to compare where interesting birds are at different times of the year. We featured the Stilt Sandpiper, pictured above, in our August 2018 issue.

Sandpiper on stilts

eBird maps show where Stilt Sandpipers were seen in August (left) and January.

The Stilt Sandpiper is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in the Arctic and subarctic of Alaska and Canada and winters in the southern United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of the Argentina and Uruguay. As the map on the left shows, in August the sandpiper has mainly left its breeding range; most individuals take a southward migration route through the Great Plains and Midwest, although some birds use the Atlantic coast as a stopover, and even fewer are found in the western states. In January, the species occurs from the Gulf Coast of the United States to the Pampas of Argentina and Uruguay. Unlike most of its relatives, this sandpiper often forages in shallow pools rather than tidal mudflats, where it often blends in with flocks of dowagers and yellowlegs.

View eBird’s real-time distribution maps for the Stilt Sandpiper

A version of this article appeared in “Birding Briefs” in the July/August 2018 issue of BirdWatching.